The Inner Editor

A letter in response to John McPhee’s article (April 29, 2013)

John McPhee, in his essay about writing and rewriting, essentially asserts that the only real writers are those who are so paralyzed by their internal critic that they can barely put two words together during the first draft (“Draft No. 4,” April 29th). Others, such as Junot Díaz and Jay McInerney, have said the opposite: that accepting the imperfection of the first draft, learning to allow oneself to write without interference from the inner editor, is what frees a writer to work. Kurt Vonnegut said he was glad that he had untutored years as an undergraduate to fill up notebooks uncensored: “I was growing my soul!” He was grateful not to have “learned taste too early.” And Natalie Goldberg, in her book “Writing Down the Bones,” urges writers to “keep your hand moving.” No one-word-an-hour for her. “How could anyone ever know that something is good before it exists?” McPhee asks. A priori, unearned love helps something become good.

Jenae Marks

Berkeley, Calif.

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